Seven Times Yato Slips and Isn't Heard, and One Time He Is
by animomma
Summary: Yato has a hard time keeping his feelings for Hiyori to himself, and sometimes he slips up and says things he doesn't mean to. He's pretty good at covering for himself, though, until one time when it doesn't work.
1. Chapter 1

Yato stepped along beside Hiyori, happy to be heading anywhere with her on this brisk fall afternoon. The leaves on the trees were turning delightfully brilliant colors, and as Hiyori walked a half-step ahead of him, it gave him a beautiful view of her dark hair in stark contrast against the vibrant reds and golds. He struggled to listen to what she was saying, but it was hard when she looked so stunning. He smiled ironically to himself. Hell, when did she not look stunning? All he ever wanted to do was pull her into his chest and kiss her until all she could do was moan his name.

Yato shook his head. He couldn't let himself think like that. He was no good for her, he knew that. Hiyori was amazing, all fire and light, and he was darkness. She deserved much better. But, shit, it was hard to forget how much he loved her when she turned to him with that blazing smile.

Instinctively, he smiled back. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something. He shook his head a bit, and said, "Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

Hiyori sighed a bit and replied, "I said, we're here! What do you think?"

 _I think you're perfect_ , he thought to himself, then forced his eyes to the ramen stand she indicated in a wide sweep of her arm.

"It looks fun," he replied, and stepped forward to hold the flap up for her.

She ducked under his arm, gushing, "I know, isn't it? I found it last year at a street festival around here, and they had such good ramen, I've been coming here ever since as a special treat." As she walked past his chest, he caught a whiff of her scent, and had to steel himself not to reach out and touch her. He took a deep breath, and followed her into the confines of the stand, allowing the cloth flap to fall softly down behind him.

Hiyori stood looking up at the wooden menu board hung up on the wall. Yato walked over next to her, and leaned towards her a bit to see the menu better. As he did, he caught another tantalizing hint of her scent over the smell of cooking noodles. He hastily shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, before they could betray him and reach out to stroke her hair.

Unaware of the silent struggle taking place beside her, Hiyori asked, without taking her eyes off the menu board, "So what do you want?"

Still staring at her silky hair, Yato murmured, "You."

"What was that?"

Horrified, Yato belatedly realized what he had said, and his mind raced, trying to cover up his slip. "Um…I said fondue."

Hiyori looked at him sideways. "I don't think they serve fondue at a ramen shop."

 _Dammit. Quick, think of something to say!_ "Uh, yeah, I know that. I just…didn't think you were paying attention to me and wanted to see if you were actually listening." He felt rather proud of that save.

Hiyori, however, seemed less impressed. "Geez, Yato, sorry that I wasn't paying attention to you for two seconds while I decided what I want to eat. You're such a child sometimes."

Yeah. He was definitely smooth.

He sighed, and turned his gaze to the menu board. "Well, let's just order then, shall we?"

Hiyori laughed. "As long as you don't expect fondue, I think I'm ready."

Yato smiled back at her. Even though he felt embarrassed, her laugh just made him happy. He couldn't help it. "Ok, sounds good."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been another slow day in the delivery god business. Only one call, and that had turned out to be someone needing their dog walked during lunch. Yato sighed and turned over onto his back, folding his arms under his head. He stared at the ceiling, and wondered how long it would be until Hiyori got back from school. She had been coming pretty often lately to help Yukine with his studies. And, Yato had to admit, the discipline seemed to have done wonders for his shinki. He grinned a little at the thought of his beloved Sekki's growth as a person. He was hardly recognizable as the little shit that had nearly killed him so long ago. And he was fairly certain that was all thanks to a certain bright-eyed girl.

As he was musing, the door slid open and in walked the object of his musings. He heard her footsteps approach and then Hiyori bent over him, positioning her face in his line of sight. Yato caught his breath. Leaning over him, the feathery ends of her hair swayed gently above him, some just slightly brushing the tip of his nose. And did it ever smell good.

"Oh, you are awake," she commented simply, giving an equally placid smile that somehow still stopped his heart.

He grunted noncommittally, not trusting himself to say sane words if he opened his mouth. Not when all he could think was, _Hiyori, why are you so beautiful?_

"Have you been here all day?" she continued.

She'd need a real answer this time. Dammit. "Nah, I left for a bit to go do a job." He was proud of himself. A full, coherent sentence!

Her smile shone down on him like a sun. "Oh, good! See, Yato, just give it some time. People will come to you if you keep at it. I'm so proud of the work you've been doing."

 _She_ was proud of _him?_ His eyes widened, and he quickly flipped onto his side so she wouldn't be able to see the blush spreading rapidly over his cheeks. "I'm proud of you, too," he mumbled.

He could _feel_ her confusion as she leaned down a little bit further. "What did you say?"

His brain scrambled quickly for a less embarrassing response. "I asked if you're proud of Yukine, too."

A moment's pause. Then, "Yes, of course! He's been doing a wonderful job as your shinki, helping keep you on your path, going on jobs with you, and keeping up with his studies the whole time! He's an exemplary young man, don't you think?"

The praise for one of his favorite people helped Yato forget the fool he had made of himself just a second ago. Beaming, he flipped over and sat up, Hiyori quickly retracting her head to give him room. "Of course he is! He's my precious Sekki, after all! Why, just the other day…" Unnoticed by Yato, Hiyori smiled softly and settled down, recognizing the beginning of one of his favorite long-winded topics. She would be there with him for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

Yato sighed, resting his head on the kotatsu table that he was snuggled under. Today had been a particularly boring day, and was part of what seemed to be a dry spell for the god. He hadn't had any calls for a few days in a row. And, to make things worse, Hiyori hadn't stopped by recently, either. Well, to be exact, it had been 2 days and 19 hours. He longed for a look at her face. He sighed heavily again. Who even knew if she would be coming today? She certainly hadn't paid attention to any of his usual texts for a while, giving him only the briefest of answers. He flipped his phone open again now, and stared at the picture of her that he used as a background.

Fierce determination suddenly filled him. If she wasn't going to come to him, then there was absolutely no reason he couldn't go to her. A quick glance at the clock told him that Hiyori's school would be ending in about an hour. _Well, it's not like I have anything better to do_ , he decided, and teleported himself to the front gate.

The next hour was unpleasantly cold, but Yato occupied himself by playing out scenarios of how Hiyori would react to seeing him waiting to pick her up from school. In one, she screamed as if he was a rock star, and threw herself to her knees at his feet, gazing up at him with pure worship. In another, she stopped short at the gate, blushed prettily, and stammered as she asked him why he was there, blushing even harder as he replied he was there for her. In some of his more wild fantasies, she immediately flung herself into his arms and pulled his head down to meet her lips with a passionate kiss, only pulling away to declare that she had no idea how she had waited so long to be with him.

He sighed and tilted his lean frame against one of the gate's columns as this last scenario finished playing out in his head. Of course, she would never react like that to him, and he shouldn't allow her to. She deserved much better than a god of calamity. And, his personality aside, what future could they have, really? If he managed to not be forgotten, he was a god. Immortal. Unaging. Whereas Hiyori was very mortal, and would grow older, and eventually die, all while Yato was forced to watch hopelessly. He knew there would come a time when he would have to let her go, a time when he would have to force her back into her own world. She would regret it if he didn't.

But, for now, he was happy simply waiting for her at the school gate.

A bell sounded, and teens came pouring out from the confines of the school, all eager to escape after a long day. Some headed for various buildings for club activities, but many streamed towards the gate where Yato leaned casually. Several people passed by him without even a glance, but Yato didn't have time to spare for them. He was busy combing the crowd with his eyes, looking for a particular head of hair.

There it was! He waved his arm high over his head and called out, "Hiyori! Over here!"

Her head whipped around and craned over the crowd until she met his eyes. She sighed visibly and turned to her friends, saying something to them. Yato waved again, impatient. She should come pay attention to him now! She'd been with her friends all day, and he hadn't seen her in…2 days and 20 hours! That wasn't fair!

Luckily for him, what she'd been saying appeared to be a farewell, and she split off from her group of friends to make her way over to where he was waiting, grinning widely as he watched her approach. When she got within earshot, she called to him, "Yato, what are you doing here?"

He frowned. That wasn't what she was supposed to say. She was supposed to be thrilled to see him, and apologize for not having been to visit him for the past 2 days and 20 hours. Confused, he replied, "What do you mean? I'm here to pick you up, obviously?"

By now, she had reached him, and looked up into his face with blatant confusion. "But why?"

His heart jerked unpleasantly. He looked off to one side and mumbled sullenly, "Because I love you."

"Because what?"

Oh shit. That wasn't supposed to come out of his mouth. He panicked, and picked something that, while still honest, was much less dangerous. "Because I want to."

He felt a gentle hand on his sleeve, and turned to look at her. She smiled gently at him, and asked, "Is this because I haven't been to see you in a few days?"

Yato felt his face heat up as he nodded.

Her smile was as soft and sunny as warm butter. "I'm sorry about that, Yato. I've had a big project I've been working on for class, so I haven't really had much time for anything else. I'm sorry that I made you lonely. And poor Yukine is probably needing me to look over his studies, right?"

He finally found his tongue again. "Yeah, that's right. We all miss you, Hiyori. How much longer is this project going to take?"

Her face flushed a pretty pink. He admired the effect of the color on her as she replied, "I should be finishing it up either today or tomorrow. Why don't you check in with me tomorrow after school, and I'll see if I can make it over to see you boys?"

A huge grin split Yato's face. "That sounds great!" He grabbed her hand. "Now come on, you can at least let me walk you home today, right?"

Hiyori smiled up at him, some of that pink still tinting her cheeks. "Sure, Yato."


	4. Chapter 4

As they walked along the street, Yato pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth. There was a cold bite in the air that he wasn't fond of. But being with Hiyori definitely helped make up for that, he thought, watching her dark head bob alongside him.

After a pause of a few seconds, he realized with a start that he was simply staring at her. He should probably make some attempt at conversation.

Casting about, his head landed on the last things she had said. "So what's this project you're working so hard on?" he asked.

Hiyori looked up at him, a decided look of exhaustion with a topic on her face as she droned, "It's a presentation on the role of blacksmiths in the Edo period."

He snorted. "Oh, please, tell me more about this project that you obviously find so fascinating," he drawled.

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. It's just, if I have to write one more line about the methods of folding swords, I think I'll scream." She sighed heavily. "It's ridiculous how much detail the teacher is expecting out of this. I mean, 10 pages and a visual aid? It just seems like it's way over the top, even for a group project. Especially since there are always those people in group projects who are incapable of pulling their own weight, and the rest of the work falls onto the people who actually care about getting a passing grade." She made a face.

Yato laughed. He couldn't help it, her crinkled nose was just so cute. He repressed the urge to reach out and boop its little wrinkled up tip.

She pouted up at him. "It's not funny, Yato! Why do you think I haven't been around for a few days? It's because of irresponsible people who refuse to cooperate in a group!"

He held up his hands in defense and said, "All right, all right, Hiyori, I get it! I wasn't laughing at you, it's just that you made such a funny face when you said it."

She huffed. "Well, I sure don't think it's funny."

He smiled, but said nothing, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as he gave in to his urge to stare at her hair again. He loved her hair. Loved the silky tresses, how it flowed, how it billowed in the wind, and how it smelled. Oh, the smell. He'd caught the scent a few times, and it always left him craving more, left him straining to keep himself from burying his nose in it and inhaling deeply.

Yato decided that he deserved a reward for having gone so long without seeing Hiyori. Surreptitiously, he leaned over a little bit towards her head, and took a small sniff. He smiled to himself. Nothing in the world was quite like that smell.

She looked up at him with an odd look on her face. "Yato? What are you doing?"

Guiltily, he started. "Um…your hair smells nice."

She tilted her head to the side. "What was that?"

Oh, thank goodness, she hadn't heard him. Quick, pick something less stalker-ish to say. Glancing around, his eyes rested on an iced-over section of the sidewalk next to them, and he blurted out, "I said, 'It looks like ice.' You know, like there's going to be ice later."

Hiyori raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean it looks like snow?" she queried.

He groaned inwardly. Yes, that would have made more sense. "Yeah, I guess that is what I meant." He laughed lamely, not meeting her eyes.

Her footsteps ground to a halt, and he stopped to look at her. Hiyori gestured towards her house with a tilted smile. "Well, at any rate, we're here. Thanks for walking me home, Yato. And I'll try to stop over tomorrow, ok?" A quick emotion passed over her face, too fleeting for him to identify it, and then she was reaching up, hugging him around the neck. Shocked, he simply stood in place until she released her hold and drew back. Face pink, she twirled around and walked swiftly to her door, calling to him, "Bye, Yato!" And, before he could respond, she was inside and had slammed the door shut.

Yato stood there for a few seconds before he came back to reality. He grinned and shoved his hands in his pockets, making the impulsive decision to walk home instead of teleporting. Suddenly, it didn't seem so cold anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day dawned bright and cold, without the warmth of Hiyori's presence to slake the chill in the air. Yato stumbled through the unusually busy day, trying his best to keep his mind on the various tasks at hand. His thoughts, however, kept straying to the smell of his favorite person's hair. He ended up working well past the time that Hiyori's school dismissed for the day, which just made him more upset and distracted. He had hoped to pick her up at the gate to make good on her promise of seeing him today. He'd been good last night after he'd dropped her off, and hadn't event texted her except to say goodnight. He had done his best to respect her personal space and her need to get her work done, since it had come with the promise of having time with her the next day. And now the next day was here, but Yato was wasting his time on people that weren't Hiyori? Unacceptable.

Unfortunately, his personal feelings didn't make the work go any faster. By the time he left his last job, the sun had been long set in the sky, and Yato was left fuming. As he walked out onto the street and pocketed his coin, he took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. It wouldn't do to let his precious time with Hiyori be spoiled by his own bad mood. Forcing a calm smile on his face, he teleported himself into Hiyori's room to check and see if she was still there.

She was. The smile choked and died on his lips, however, when he saw that she wasn't alone.

There was a boy with her.

Their heads were bent together over the low table set in the middle of the room, and neither of them seemed to notice him, as their backs were to him. Yato froze, unsure of how to react to this unexpected situation. His body screamed for him to move, to fly across the room and yank the boy's head away from hers, but his mind scolded him for being unreasonable.

As he stood, at war with himself, Hiyori lifted her head and scanned the room until she located him, standing paralyzed behind her. Her eyes shot open wide, and she tipped her head at the boy next to her. The message in her eyes was clear: _What are you doing here? What if he sees you? How am I supposed to explain you magically appearing in my room out of nowhere?_ In response to her unspoken questions, Yato shrugged, suddenly feeling a surge of jealous anger. Why should he care what some brat thought about him being in Hiyori's room? He had more of a right to be there than this kid. Hiyori was _his_.

Yato gritted his teeth sharply against this thought. No. She wasn't his. Couldn't be his. In fact, he had absolutely no right to stay here, imposing on the time she was spending alone with this boy. He was sure that she would be better off with this kid, whoever he was, than she ever would be with a god of calamity.

Even as his brain reasoned this, however, his heart betrayed him. It flared up fiercely, and his treacherous body cooperated, walking over to her bed and plopping down on it. When his mind caught up with his actions, he tried his best to look nonchalant about the whole thing, as if it didn't bother him in the slightest that she was alone, in her room, with some horny teenager. He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through a social media site, not really seeing the words on the screen.

Hiyori continued to stare at him, undoubtedly trying to communicate more, but he reasoned that he couldn't be told to leave if he didn't get the message, so he continued to stare doggedly at his phone. Abruptly, their silent little dance was cut short as the boy next to Hiyori raised his head and said to her, "Iki-san, do you think this line looks ok?"

Hiyori snapped her head back around, and gave the boy a sweet smile. Yato watched out of the corner of his eye, and his stomach clenched with dark jealousy. She dipped her head down over the table again, and Yato noticed that there was a printed packet of papers strewn across the table, which they had apparently been working on when he had arrived. A slight sense of relief came over him. So that just meant that this kid was working with her on that blacksmith project she had talked about. But as quickly as the relief came, it vanished again as he thought through this scenario. That also meant that this kid had been the one enjoying Hiyori's company for the past few days instead of him. He had been getting her attention, her time, and her smiles.

As he pondered over this, she lifted her head again and gave one of those smiles to the boy next to her.

Yato's heart clenched.

"I think it's fine. No need to change the wording. It's a bit repetitive, but I think it introduces a necessary concept we need later in the paper."

The boy nodded. "If you say so, we'll keep it." He sighed. "I know we already printed it out, but the final proofread is really making me anxious. Do you think we did ok on this?"

Hiyori reached out and gathered up the papers, shuffling them into a neat pile. "I wouldn't have said we should print it out if I didn't think it was good," she replied in her matter-of-fact way. The boy gave her a tender look, and Yato made a strangled noise.

Hiyori snapped her gaze over to him, the air crackling like a whip as she demanded silence. He turned his head away from her petulantly. He knew it. This kid had a thing for her. He was definitely going to watch him until he left.

Satisfied that Yato was going to be quiet, Hiyori stood the papers up and gave them a decisive snap against the table to straighten them. "Well, at any rate, the project is due tomorrow, and I think we've done an excellent job, considering that one of our group members abandoned us. It looks all ready to turn in tomorrow." She reached off to one side, and tucked the packet into her school bag. Straightening up, she reached her arms over her head in a languid stretch. Yato noticed that the boy watched her a bit too closely as her chest swelled with her stretch, and he clenched his free hand into a fist.

The kid spoke up. "You seem tired, Iki-san. Since we're done, I think I'll get going home. My mother was expecting me about an hour ago." He rose up stiffly, obviously also feeling the effects of their long work session.

Hiyori lowered her arms and looked up at him. "If you're sure, Ikeda-kun. I can get you some tea or something before you go if you want?"

He shook his head, much to Yato's relief. "Thank you, Iki-san, but I should get going."

She braced her hands on the table and levered herself up. "All right, let me see you out, then." She darted a glance at the god on her bed, ordering him to stay put until she got back. Yato pursed his lips, but simply watched as she walked out of the door, followed by the boy.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only two minutes, Hiyori appeared again in the doorway, entered, and shut the door softly behind her. As she turned around, her eyes shone murderously. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded in a whisper-scream.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? I'm sitting here."

"Don't play dumb," she hissed. "Why did you hang around? You're lucky Ikeda-kun didn't see you. How would I have possibly explained a man randomly appearing out of nowhere in my room?"

Yato sat up, abandoning all pretense of being preoccupied with his phone. "I've told you before, Hiyori, most people don't even notice us gods. There wasn't much chance of him tuning into me. And besides, how was I supposed to know that he was even going to be here?" The last sentence was uttered with a hint of malice and petulance.

Hiyori didn't miss the tone. "Yato, I told you that I _might_ be finishing up my project today. You can't get upset when you show up, unannounced, and I'm doing a group project."

He pouted. "But you told me that you'd spend time with me today, not with some guy."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Yato. This is ridiculous. We were just finishing up a project. You're acting like a jealous boyfriend."

Yato snorted, and muttered, "I wish."

Hiyori's eyes shot open, and she looked up at him sharply. "What did you say?"

His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "I didn't finish what I was going to say. I meant, I wish you would think about your safety more."

Her look turned into one of exasperation. "So you're telling me I need to be more wary of my classmates?"

"When those classmates are hormonal teenage boys who are alone with you in your room, yes."

"Yato, don't you think you're being just a bit paranoid?"

It was Yato's turn to glare. "No, I don't think that. You don't know how teenage boys think. I do. Besides, you should have seen how he was looking at you. I'm just trying to watch out for you, Hiyori. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." He finished the thought softly, but with a firm tone. No matter how revealing it was, he wouldn't compromise his words when it came to her safety.

Hiyori's face softened. The faint traces of a smile showed at her lips as she replied, "Well, all right then. I promise I'll be more careful about boys in the future." She leaned forward a bit. "But I think it's only fair to point out that you, a boy, are alone with me in my room right now. Don't you think I should be protecting myself? Maybe I should kick you?"

Yato snorted. "That's different. First of all, I'm a man, and a god at that. And I would never do anything to hurt you."

A warm flicker passed across Hiyori's face, and she teased back gently, "Is that so? Well, then, I suppose it's ok if you stay." She flopped down on the floor in front of her bed, leaning her back against the god's legs.

Yato swallowed hard. This was simultaneously better and worse than their previous conversation. After a moment of wrestling with himself, Yato gave in and decided to just enjoy the moment. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and allowed himself a contented smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiyori tilted her head backwards, and Yato felt his face heat up slightly at the sudden closeness of their faces. "So, Yato, what should we do now? You're the one who wanted to spend time together, got any ideas?"

Unfortunately for him, almost all ideas, and thoughts for that matter, had left his head a moment before. He made a heroic effort and rallied enough brainpower to answer her semi-intelligently, despite the proximity of her soft lips. "Um…I don't really care."

Brilliant.

Hiyori wrinkled her nose up at him playfully. "Well, do you want to play a game or something?"

"S-sure."

She flopped her head forward again and placed her hands on his knees, elbows bent at a sharp angle, using this as leverage to raise herself up off the floor. Yato nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact. Hiyori, however, didn't even look at him as she walked across the room and fished around in a drawer. After a few seconds of searching, she held up her prize and exclaimed, "Here it is!"

Eyeing the hanafuda deck in her hand, Yato asked, "Koi-koi?"

"Exactly!"

He smirked. "Are you sure you want to play that with someone who was around when the game was invented?"

Her face stilled for a moment, then grew determined. "I think I'll take my chances!" she said firmly, crossing the room and slapping the deck down on the table. She flopped down with a sense of finality, and commanded, "Deal the cards, since you know so much about this game."

Sliding off the edge of the bed and arranging himself on the other side of the table, Yato took up the cards, opened the box, and began shuffling. "Well, if you're that determined to bring defeat upon yourself, then I suppose I will have to play," he said, beginning to deal the cards out in front of them.

When he had finished, he gestured at his opponent. "You can go first," he said grandly.

"But you were the oya," she protested.

"Go ahead. You're going to need all the luck you can get," he answered back with a smile.

"Oh, trying to give me a handicap, are you? Sure, I'll take it, but you're going to regret it!" She slapped a card onto the table, snatching up her pair with a smug gleam in her eye.

"You don't need to get so cocky, that's just one match!" He scanned the table and didn't see any matches for his cards, placing one of his down on the table and drawing a new one to end his turn.

"Is it just one?" she asked complacently, pulling another card out and throwing it triumphantly next to the others.

Yato looked at it and groaned. "Really? You have a hiki already?"

She smiled at him with just a little bit too much innocence. "I guess so. Oh, and look at that, I'm already pretty close to a yaku."

He was horrified to see that she was correct. She only needed one more card to make an akatan. "How the hell did you get so lucky?" he grumbled.

She only laughed at him in response. "Come on, your turn."

He settled into the game in earnest, but two rounds later, he was still losing spectacularly. With dismay, he looked at the new cards he had just dealt and realized he had absolutely nothing to make a match with. He glared across the table at Hiyori, and instantly forgot his frustration. Her head was bent studiously over her cards, hair brushing the table as her slightly parted lips moved in a ghost of a pattern, as if she was talking to herself. Yato found himself wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked. "You're so pretty," he sighed quietly.

"What was that?" she asked, not looking up from her cards.

Quickly, Yato said, "You're pretty slow. Why don't you hurry up and play your card?"

That did get her to look up, revealing a smirk on her face. "What, do you think if I play faster maybe I'll make a mistake and you could actually win?"

Flustered, he reached behind him onto her bed, grabbing the first thing his hand connected with and throwing it at her.

The pillow connected with her face with a soft whump. Hiyori stared at him for a second, then grinned wickedly. "Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh? You are so dead!" Dropping her cards on the table, she picked up the fallen pillow from her lap and hurled it at him with deadly accuracy.

It connected squarely in his face, but he managed to catch it before it fell again. Holding it in his hands, he said, "Thanks for the weapon, Hiyori." Standing up, he advanced on her, brandishing the pillow over his head menacingly.

Squealing, she leaped up and ran around the table, diving for her bed. Grabbing two throw pillows in either hand, she stood on the bed and yelled, "This is war, Yato!" and began launching them at him.

Laughing, he used his pillow to bat them away before they hit, advancing on her position. Frantically, she reached down and grabbed the remaining throw pillows and a few stuffed animals, gathering them up in her arms as she straightened up. She began launching them at him rapidly, but that didn't stop him from continuing his forward march. When she had run out of ammunition, Yato was standing at the side of her bed, still holding the pillow over his head, ready to strike. Holding her hands in front of her, she wailed, "Yatooo, mercy, please!"

He grinned widely at her, stepping up onto the bed and looming over her. "Oh, I thought you were the one who didn't believe in mercy?" he asked.

Hiyori tried to scramble away from him on the bed, but tripped over the comforter, falling flat on her back. As she fell, her foot hooked around Yato's knee, and he found himself tipping over too. Hurriedly, he dropped the pillow so he could catch himself. As the adrenaline rush settled, he assessed the situation for damage to himself or Hiyori, and noted with relief that he had managed to avoid falling bodily on her. As he was taking stock of them, her eyes cracked open, and then widened considerably.

That was when he realized that, although he hadn't crushed her, his body was still pressed fully over hers, and he had imprisoned her with his arms trapping her head. Feeling a blush spreading quickly over his face, he quickly sat up and scrambled off the bed.

Not daring to look at her, he said, "Um, sorry about that, Hiyori. I…um, I guess you win. I'll see you later." And, hating himself for the cowardice in the act as he did it, he teleported out of her room.


	7. Chapter 7

Embarrassed by his actions, Yato refrained from contacting Hiyori for the rest of that night, trying to give himself some space to cool off and regain a bit of sanity. The next day he decided that he should leave her alone during school also, and since he didn't get any jobs, he spent most of the day thinking about how he should react to her after the awkward atmosphere last night. He only sent one text, asking if she would have time to come see him today like usual.

By the time the school day was ending, his nerves were in a frayed mess, and he jumped more than he would have cared to admit when the door slid open. He sat bolt upright from where he had been staring at the ceiling, excited to see Hiyori, but felt an instant regret when it proved to simply be Bishamon.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, angry at her for not being Hiyori.

"That's hardly a way to properly greet someone, now is it?" she asked with disdain.

Sulking, he muttered, "It is if the person is you, and not Hiyori."

She bristled. "What was that?"

Sighing, he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck lazily and replied, "I said it's disappointing that you're not Hiyori. She might be coming here any minute, so was there something you wanted?"

Bishamon stared coldly at him for a moment, and said regally, "Yes, in fact, there was. I was coming here to ask for your help with some ayakashi. But you seem to be completely preoccupied with a useless mortal instead."

Fury welled up inside him. "Listen here, you psycho bitch," he snarled, "Hiyori is a beautiful, wonderful person, and don't you dare say anything bad about her, or I'll kill you."

A reproachful voice piped up from behind the goddess in the doorway. "Who are you killing, now?"

Bishamon stepped aside, looking as surprised as Yato to see the object of their conversation standing on the steps.

"Hiyori!" Yato exclaimed, "You're here! What a nice surprise!"

"It's hardly a surprise when you asked me if I was free to come over. Now who are you killing?" Her serious eyes bored into him.

"Ahh…um…Bishamon here was just asking me to help her out with some ayakashi, so…I was saying I would help her go kill them." Scratching the back of his head, he hoped she would buy this explanation.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Well, if that's what it was, I suppose that's all right," she conceded. "But won't you need Yukine, then?"

Startled, he looked around. "Ah, yes, that's right. I'll go get him now, then we can head out, psycho bi―I mean, Bishamon. Wait here."

"I'm right here, Yato. What do you want me for, now?"

Turning around, Yato saw Yukine coming down the stairs. He clapped his hands together in an attempt to ally his nerves and exclaimed, "Ah, there he is, my pride and joy! Yukine, this lovely goddess here needs our help with some ayakashi. Are you up for it?"

Yukine gave him an odd look. "Of course I am. What are we waiting for, let's get going."

Sweeping her gaze over the two of them, Bishamon nodded and said, "Thank you for your help in this matter. I will go ahead then, the ayakashi have gathered near Tenjin's main temple. I will see you there." She exited the building swiftly.

Yato sighed in her wake. Thanks to his uncontrollable tongue, he had committed himself to following psycho bitch instead of having time with Hiyori. Although, if he were honest, it might be better for him if he wasn't alone with her for too long. He seemed to have less and less control over himself when they were together lately.

As he was thinking this, however, she spoke up. "If I won't be in the way too much, can I come along? I can at least scope out some of the ayakashi for you. There must be a lot, if Bishamon was worried enough to come ask you for help."

Before Yato could answer, his hafuri was saying, "That's probably not a bad idea, Hiyori. Come on, Yato, let's head out. We have work to do."

Looking back and forth between the two of them, Yato sighed and hauled himself to his feet. He knew when to admit defeat. "All right, let's get going."


	8. Chapter 8

They all walked swiftly together, not really talking much until they were about halfway to the temple. Then Hiyori announced, "This is going really slowly. Why don't Yukine and I go ahead and scope out where the ayakashi are?" Without waiting for a response, she projected herself out of her body, and as it crumpled to the ground, she said to Yukine, "Let's go." As the two of them took off, she called back to Yato, "Can you take care of my body for me? Thanks!"

He stared after her, open-mouthed, not even having time to yell at her about what a stupid idea this was. But there was nothing he could do. Grumbling darkly, he hoisted her limp body onto his back and began walking towards the temple with renewed speed.

His grumblings turned into a tirade directed at Hiyori's vacated body. "You know, you really wear me out sometimes," he griped. "I can't keep up with you. You're just…such a force of nature." He softened. "And so beautiful. I just can't bear it sometimes, watching you, and how you take care of everyone with such a fierce determination. You make me love you more and more every day, you know that?"

"I…I do?"

The voice coming from near his ear startled him, and he jumped, nearly dropping Hiyori's body in the process. He managed to scrabble onto it at the last second, straightening up and adjusting his hold on her legs. "Hiyori? Is that you?" he managed to gasp out around his wildly beating heart.

"Yeah, who else did you think it would be?" she asked, but some of her usual pep was gone from her voice. She tightened her hands around his neck and asked tremulously, "Did…what you said, Yato…did you mean that?"

Oh. Ohhhh shit.

He had completely forgotten about what he had been saying when she returned to her body.

"I, um, well, that is, I…um…" Sighing, he gave up on trying to come up with something plausible. "I guess that depends on how much you heard?" he asked uncertainly.

"I…I think I heard all of it."

"Oh." His mind shut down. There wasn't anything he could say that would seem believable. He chose to keep silent instead, hoping that maybe she wouldn't say anything about his lovesick musings.

No such luck for him, however. "Yato…you said you…love me? Do you really? You…you weren't just saying that? Because…because I, too…I…"

Hope prickled inside of him, a tiny beam that he chose to believe in. Gently, he set Hiyori down, and turned around to look at her. Her face was flushed a beautiful shade of pink, and she was looking down at the sidewalk instead of up at his eyes.

That wouldn't do at all. Gently, he touched his fingers to the bottom of her chin, drawing it up so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Yes, I did say that, Hiyori. I love you. But I never said anything before, because…well, because you deserve more than just a filthy god of calamity like me."

Her eyes flashed with anger and something akin to pain. "That's not true, Yato! It's not true at all! I…rather than deserving better than you, what right do I have, as a human, to deserve a god at all? Even…even if…" she averted her eyes and almost whispered the last part of her sentence. "…even if I love you too."

A thrill ran through his chest, and he stepped closer to her. "What was that? I don't think I heard you," he said.

A little bit louder, she replied, "I said…I said, I love you, too."

A whooping cry burst out of his chest, and Yato swept Hiyori up into a crushing hug, lifting her clear off her feet. She squealed and attempted to hold onto him for balance, but his hold around her arms prevented that. "Yato! Put me down, Yato!"

Laughing, he complied, but didn't let go of her. Touching their foreheads together, he beamed into her beautiful eyes and said, "I love you more, though. And as long as we love each other, why should we bother caring about the rest of that?"

Hiyori began to protest, "Yato, I think there are some pretty big questions here―"

Unable to contain his excitement and joy any longer, Yato cut her off by pressing his mouth onto hers.

The kiss was brief and sweet, but he still felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest by the time he released her. As he drew back, she was staring at him, mouth open. "Hiyori, you're so beautiful," he said, reveling in not having to keep his voice down anymore. He was leaning in for another kiss when a voice interrupted him.

"Hiyori, what's taking you so long? You were supposed to get Yato and come back! Come on, we have work to do!"

He dropped his head to Hiyori's shoulder and groaned. Of course Yukine would come ruin this moment. Hiyori, however, seemed relieved to have an interruption, stepping back quickly from him and calling back in a decidedly shaky voice, "Yes, Yukine, we're coming! We'll be right there!" Directing her gaze shyly at Yato, she murmured, "Can we talk more about this later?"

Yato was pretty sure his face was going to split in half from the ecstatic grin spanning its length. "Of course we can." He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "My love."

She jumped back from him as if he was on fire, but he wasn't going to let her get away that easily. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and tugged her along behind him, heading in the direction Yukine was waiting. She murmured, "I love you, too."

"Hm? What was that?" He wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.

"Ah, nothing! I said…I love fondue."

He looked back at her in surprise, and burst out laughing. "I love fondue, too."


End file.
